Creon 'Tragic Hero In Sophocles' Antigone

Tragic Hero

Antigone, an Ancient Greek play by Sophocles, is mainly about how excessive pride can lead to serious events. Creon, the king of Thebes, who is full of hubris, declares that Polyneices will lay unburied to become animal’s carrion. Polyneices’ sister, Antigone, wants to bury his body in defiance of Creon's rules. Creon is the tragic hero of Antigone because his actions make his power descend throughout the play. At the beginning of the play, everyone sees Creon as a significant leader. He has good reasons for his laws and punishments. However, by the end of the play Creon’s hubris has taken over him, which leads to his demise.

Hubris, one of Creon’s tragic flaws, causes his downfall. He will not listen to anyone. Creon is stubborn

and is full of pride; he can’t accept that he could ever be wrong. Tiresias tells Creon that he should consider changing his decision about Antigone’s death punishment. Creon responds by saying, “Whatever you say, you will not change my will.” He also displays a feeling as if he is superior to all. “The State is King!” (Scene 5, Line 69) shouted Creon, which shows that he thinks he is even better than the Gods are. Creon’s hubris is to blame for his dramatic downfall.

Creon’s abuse of power was one of the main reasons of his destruction.

He believed that he could break the laws of the gods, and had very harsh punishments for the citizens who followed their laws. Creon made a public announcement and said that nobody was allowed to burry Polyneices. A clear example of his abuse of power is when he tells Haemon, “My voice is the one voice giving orders in this city”. (Scene 3 Line 105) This caused a great amount of fear and discomfort among Thebes’s citizens. He stated that the state of Thebes revolted around him, and that the only laws to follow were his own. His excessive abuse of power started his

destruction

As Aristotle one said, "A man cannot become a tragic hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." As I have mentioned, Creon is obviously the tragic hero in this play.

On the other hand, Antigone does have some aspects that qualify her as a tragic hero, but she does not completely fit to be the tragic hero of Antigone. First of all, Antigone has only good intentions of burring Polyneices. When Ismene neglects Antigone’s position towards Polyneices body, Antigone says, “That must be your excuse, I suppose. But as for me, I will bury the brother I love.” (Prologue, Line 65-66). This quote demonstrates that Antigone preferred to die than to leave his brother unburied. Throughout the play, she tries to bury him without changing her opinion, which is another reason that supports that she is not the tragic hero. Since Antigone does not have many of the tragic flaws that a tragic hero needs, she is the actual

hero.

Creon displays many traits that a tragic hero must have. His excessive pride doesn’t let him deal with his problems in the appropriate way. Creon finds out that things won’t go the way he planned when Tiresias’s gives him advice. Finally, Creon realizes that his hubris has brought his downfall. Creon's final words supports that he is the tragic hero because of his revelation, "Fate has brought all my pride to a speck of dust." This changes the overall function of the play because it gives us a great message, which is that there are times where you need to leave pride behind and go with the right choice. Without any doubt, Creon is truly the tragic character in Antigone.